I still remember when years ago I watched Amy Cuddy’s TED talk ” Your body language may shape who you are”. The story of her injury and recovery was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

What stuck with me and a lot of other women I know it’s her mantra “fake it until you make it” and her research showing that power poses were correlated with an increase in testosterone.

Since then, there have been studies casting doubts about the reproducibility of the correlation between power poses and testosterone.

What has persisted is her advice: “Fake it until you make it”.

It doesn’t work for me. I don’t find it generative. Thinking “I’m a fake but nobody will notice” doesn’t make me do better work, feel more energised, or supports me in the pursuit of my goals.

Moreover, it’s a gateway to overconfidence and bypassing self-reflection. I wonder how many leaders have started wars or handled the pandemic with the thought to “fake it until you make it”.

And I’m not the only one that feels that just having a “happy” thought changes what you believe and how you behave.

In February, I hosted a meeting with other professional women in tech about the best and worst advice we’ve received and several attendees agreed that one of the worst pieces of advice ever it’s been “be confident”.

What do I know it works, then?

Rather than writing you, I’m inviting you to a webinar to share the reasons why advice such as “fake it until you make it” doesn’t work and what DOES work to support us in the pursuit of stretching goals.

It’s called “From inner criticism to inner wisdom”.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

10.30 PDT | 13.30 EDT | 18.30 BST | 19.30 CEST60 Minutes

Click on the link to register!